RB Leipzig Threaten Leeds with Legal Action for Not Signing Jean-Kevin Augustin

RB Leipzig sporting director Florian Scholz has threatened Leeds United with legal action over the club's refusal to sign Jean-Kevin Augustin on a permanent deal.

The White's signed the 23-year-old on loan in January, with the club having the option to buy him at the end of the season for £17.7m. This buyback clause was reportedly triggered when Leeds secured promotion to the Premier League.

However, the club have opted not to purchase Augustin permanently, and according to the Independent the club have claimed the 'extenuating circumstances' as a result of the coronavirus render the deal null and void.

Leipzig are not quite on the same page. "The legal situation is clear," sporting director Scholz told SportBuzzer. "Leeds is currently in the process of spending a lot of money on the transfer market but does not stand by its contractual obligations.

"We are ready to take further steps.”

The extenuating circumstances triggered by COVID-19 have not prevented Leeds from splashing the cash in the transfer market.

The club spent a record £27m to bring forward Rodrigo in from Valencia, Helder Costa made his move from Wolves permanent for a fee of £15m, and the Whites parted with £11.7m to sign Robin Koch from Freiburg.

However, they opted not to purchase Augustin after he made just three substitute appearances for the club during his loan spell.

The French forward then sustained a hamstring injury in February, before coronavirus struck. Although Augustin recovered from his injury during lockdown, Leeds did not extend his loan to enable him to play after restart, and Marcelo Bielsa's side secured promotion without him.

"When he finished [his loan spell], we evaluated if it was convenient that he stayed with us or went back to his original team," Bielsa explained earlier in the summer (via the Independent).

"We thought that the most convenient thing was to take the decision we did."